5/22/24

US stocks fall from records as cracks appear in consumer brands

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% amid a swath of bad news for consumer-oriented companies as well as big declines in utilities and energy stocks.

Target tumbled 8% after posting poor quarterly results, its worst session since November 2022. Shares of Lululemon fell more than 7% after the company announced its chief product officer was leaving. And Williams-Sonoma had a wild day, opening more than 10% higher on strong quarterly earnings before ending up down 11% by the end of the session after guiding that margins would be flat year-on-year for the rest of 2024.

Utilities, consumer discretionary, and energy sector ETFs all fell more than 1% on the day. Within the S&P 500, stocks that declined outnumbered stocks that rose by 141, the worst day for market breadth this month.

Meanwhile, shares of BuzzFeed got a big lift after Vivek Ramaswamy, former Republican presidential candidate and pharmaceuticals entrepreneur, took an activist stake in the troubled media company.

After the close, Nvidia posted (another) blowout quarterly earnings report, sending shares higher in the after-hours session.

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LoanDepot shares soar as it gathers retail interest

Shares of the struggling mortgage originator have more than doubled in the last month.

Loan Depot Shares Soar amid Wall Street Bets optimism

markets

36m

Plug Power’s option-fueled romp higher continues to accelerate

For the second day in a row, Plug Power is surging on little to no news and a ton of seemingly bullish option flow.

Tuesday’s call volumes of 97,079 were over 5x the 20-day average, and the hydrogen fuel cell company has already nearly doubled that mark by 11:54 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

So far 181,671 call options have changed hands, with activity once again centered in contracts with a strike price of $2 that expire on October 17 and this Friday.

The put/call ratio is less than 0.03, which if sustained would be the lowest since May 27, 2020. The volumes appear to be a bit of a mirage when it comes to assessing just how bullish these flows are: some of this looks to be an unwind of the previous session’s trade, with the October call options being sold.

markets

60m

IonQ’s purchase of Vector Atomic will support efforts to grow its sales to governments, says Needham & Company

IonQ’s announced plans to acquire quantum sensor company Vector Atomic in an all-stock deal worth approximately $400 million. The purchase is expected to close in Q4.

“This acquisition marks a significant acceleration and expansion opportunity for IonQ as we continue to lead the commercialization of quantum technologies,” Niccolo de Masi, chairman and CEO of IonQ, said in a press release. “Integrating Vector Atomic’s sensing capabilities across our compute, networking, and space portfolios will advance our mission to provide scalable, commercial-grade quantum solutions for our customers today. The addition of Vector Atomic’s 29 pending and issued patents to IonQ’s formidable patent portfolio, and its talented team of scientists and engineers will help us reach our quantum technology goals.”

Needham analyst N. Quinn Bolton, who has a “buy” rating and $80 price target on IonQ, highlighted that Vector Atomic’s more than $200 million in government contracts and projects would help support the company’s growth in this area.

“Vector Atomic’s field-validated offerings, which include high-performance clocks, synchronization hardware, gravimeters, and inertial sensors, strengthen IonQ’s position as the only quantum company integrating computing, networking, and sensing within a single platform,” he wrote. “Vector Atomic’s portfolio of products has been designed to support mission-critical federal and national security applications.”

This deal comes on the heels of the closing of its acquisition of Oxford Ionics and its Analyst Day event, which served as a catalyst for IonQ and the broader quantum space.

Today, on the other hand, IonQ is not the top performer in the industry: that distinction goes to D-Wave Quantum, which is benefiting from a wave of bullish options bets.

markets

1h

Lucid climbs out of its reverse stock split rut as EV demand swells

Lucid’s rallying like the end of August and beginning of September never even happened. The luxury EV maker rose more than 8% in Wednesday trading, climbing out of its recent all-time lows following the company’s 1-for-10 reverse stock split.

Lucid shares are above $21, or $2.10 presplit. That’s their highest level since the week leading up to the drop in late August.

Also potentially boosting the stock is the looming expiration of the $7,500 EV tax credit on September 30, which pricey Lucid vehicles can qualify for through leasing loopholes. Consumers have rushed to buy the vehicles before the credit ends, with EV registrations surging 27% in July, according to S&P Global Mobility. Lucid has been discounting its vehicles to capitalize on the sales bump.

markets

1h

D-Wave Quantum soars on a wave of bullish options bets

Shares of D-Wave Quantum are roaring higher, up 8% as of 11:27 a.m. ET, as traders press wagers on short-term upside for the annealing-centric quantum computing company.

Call volumes are running at 110,453 as of 11:28 a.m., more than double the 20-day moving average. And that flow has a particularly bullish tilt to it: the put/call ratio is under 0.2 so far, versus the 20-day average of 0.36.

The contracts seeing the most activity are call options that expire this Friday with strike prices of $21, $20, and $19.50.

Get Smart: D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz discusses how the quantum computing company competes against AI, potential acquisitions, and more

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